Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1  What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi:

2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 3  and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.”

4  Edom says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. 5  Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!’ ”